Joseph Knecht

  Chacun a Son Goût ("Every One to Their Own Taste") Here is the bored  Prince Orlofsky  (a "trouser role") throwing a party in  Johann Straus'  operetta  Die Fledermaus  ("The Bat"), and admonishing his revelers to behave to "their own tastes" (i.e. "do your own thing!")  ... Today's constructors, veteran  Katie Hale and Tennessee Grimes (making his/her Corner debut), give us a taste of lean construction, with only 10 TLWs and only a few people and places.  They also give us 4 asterisked single word theme clues that fill with a synonym preceded by one of the classic four tastes: SWEET , SALTY , SOUR , and BITTER , each a two word in-the-language phrase ... 16A. *Center:  SWEET HEART .  Teri is ... 23A. *Hound:  SALTY DOG .  Slang for a seasoned sailor and the title of a sad song by Procol Harum , possibly about the sinking of a ship, but the meaning of the lyrics are disputed ... Lyrics 49A. *Memo:  SOU...

  I struggled to come up with that theme description, and usually when I struggle it means I'm missing something.  But I can always count on you folks to tell me what it is. 😀 There are five theme clues, no reveal, no asterisks, no circles -- just the 5 longest fills clued with this pattern: a sport playing area ; a non-branded ("generic") person , place , or thing making the sport happen; and a (mostly) unnamed organization sponsoring the endeavor ... 17A. Racing venue with a generic speaker sponsorship?: SOUND TRACK .  A speaker produces SOUND and racing is conducted on a TRACK ?  Here's a RACE TRACK SOUND TRACK ... 24A. Basketball arena with a generic pollster sponsorship?: DATA CENTER .  A pollster collects DATA and a CENTER is another name for a basketball court, or alternately it's the name of a position on the court?   This one is for all you hoopsters, sponsored by the NBA ......

Feathered Follies Tweety Today's constructors-cum-ornithologists feather our nest with fill from 5 classic movies, which they have morphed into punny birds with just a single letter change .  Kelly Richardson is a fledgling in these parts and Katie Hale has soared through our skies many times as a constructor and assistant editor. Here is each new hatchling, followed by the original still in its shell ... 16A. Film about a seabird who will stop at nothing for a sandwich?: RAGING GULL .  RAGING BULL is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and based Jake LaMotta 's 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story . It stars Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta.   22A. Film about a bird who is constantly mistaken for a common pigeon?: DOVE ACTUALLY .  LOVE ACTUALLY is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis . It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked w...